Integral clamp



July 8,' 1969 V. A. PETERT'IL ETAL.

INTEGRAL CLAMP Filed Jan.

Z @favs @gua dit o@ 4United States Patent O 3,453,700 INTEGRAL CLAMPVictor A. Petertil, 509 Fair Oaks, Oak Park, Ill. 60302, and JamesTeague, Jr., 443 W. Webster Ave., Chicago, Ill. 60614 Filed Jan. 16,1968, Ser. No. 698,176 Int. Cl. D06f .S5/0.0

U.S. Cl. 24-137 6 Claims ABSTRACT F THE DISCLOSURE A clamp or grippingdevice integrally constructed of resilient material and having afrusto-conical shape includes first and second levers bridged at theirsides intermediate their length to form a double pivot with the forwardside of the bridge members defining a concave arcuate shape openingtoward the constricted portion of the clamp. A longitudinal slot extendsfrom the reduced tip of the clamp to communicate with the arcuateportion of the bridge members to provide opposing jaws for clamping; andthe levers extend beyond the bridge members to provide handles which,when squeezed, will separate the clamping jaws by increasing thecurvature of the arcuate portions of the bridge members.

Background The present invention relates to a clamp such as the =kindthat might be used as a clothespin, blanket clip, or the like; moreparticularly, it relates to a clamp which is constructed as an integralbody from a tough, resilient material.

Heretofore, the most popular commercial version of a lever-typeclothespin is a three-piece construction including two wooden or plasticlever arms resiliently hinged in the middle by a wire spring. The armsare inclined toward each other at one end and resiliently held againstone another by means of the spring.

There have been other suggested versions of this principle, not `quiteso popular commercially, but one has a unitary construction in which thetwo `lever arms are made of a plastic or similar material, and ahorseshoe or U-shaped fiat metallic spring is embedded in the levers andcoated with plastic to provide the spring tension force for theclothespin.

Summary The present invention provides a clothespin or clamp of integralconstruction wherein the entire device is made of a tough, resilientmaterial, such as metal or plastic and having a frusto-conical shape.The levers are bridged at the sides of their midsections; and thebridging members conform to the overall conical shape of the device. Thelevers are inclined toward a reduced tip or gripping front portion; andrearward of the pivotal connections, the levers form handles which maybe squeezed for opening the jaws of the device.

Each of the bridging members define a concave arcuate edge facing thejaws of the device, and when the levers are squeezed, the clamping jawsseparate by increasing the curvature of this arcuate portion of thebridging members.

With the present construction, there is provided a simple, economicalintegral cla-mp made entirely of the same material, and which is highlyresistant to wear or corrosion. Because it has a conical shape, a numberof the clamps may be nested for shipment or storage.

Other features and advantages of the instant invention will be obviousto persons skilled in the art from the following detailed description ofa preferred embodi- 3,453,700 Patented July 8, 1969 ment accompanied bythe attached drawing wherein identical reference numerals will refer tolike structural features in the various views.

Drawing FIG. l is a perspective View of a clamp or gripping deviceaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation View of the device of FIG. l; FIIG. 3 is alongitudinal cross section of the device of FIG. 4 is a front elevationview of the device of FIG. l;

FIG. 5 is a horizontal cross section view taken through the sight line5-5 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 6 illustrates the device of FIG. 1 in a position in which its jawsare being opened; and

FIGS. 7 and 8 are front and side elevation views respectively of analternate embodiment of the present invention.

Detailed description` Referring now to the drawing, and particularly toFIG. 1, there is seen one embodiment of the present invention inperspective view. When referring to the various structural features ofthe inventive clothespin, it will sometimes be convenient to refer tothe forward and rear directions, and these will be taken to meanrespectively the constricted or gripping portion and the enlarged orhandle portion of the device.

The inventive clamp includes first and second elongated lever armsdesignated generally by reference numerals 10 and 11; and the lever arms10 and 1 1 define an overall conical or frusto-conical shape taperingtoward a constricted tip portion 12. The levers 10 and 11 are coupledtogether at the sides of their midsection by means of bridging members13 and 14. Each ofthe bridging members 13 and 14 also conforms to theoverall conical shape of the device; and they are formed integrally withthe levers 10 and 11 and of the same material.

Forward'of the bridging members 13 and 14, the levers 10 and 11 areformed into jaws designated respectively 15 and 16. As seen in FIG. 1,these jaws are serrated as at 17 and 18 respectively, and truncated atthe tip 12 to form conforming fiat tip portions 12a and 12b (FIG. 3).The jaws 15 and 16 of the device are hinged about arcuate, concaveboundaries 20 and 21 which face the forward end of the device and definean opening which communicates through the entire jaw section.

Rearward of the bridging members '13 and 14, the levers 10 and 11 formhandle members 23 and 24 which are separated by means of a generallyV-shaped aperture or groove 25 extending transversely between bothhandles.

As illustrated for one side in FIG. 6,. when the handles 23 and 24 areforced together, the jaws 15 and 16 are separated; and the arcuateportions 20 and 21 of the bridging members 13 and 1-4 define anincreasing curvature. This is considered an important aspect of theinvention since it prevents tearing into the bridging members partiallydefined by the arcuate edges. The rearward portion of the bridgingmembers (the back of the bridging member 13 is identified by referencenumeral 28 in FIG. 6) is in compression, and in order to accommodatethis compressive force, there is a slight lateral bulge at this sectionof the bridging member. It is the resiliency and compression of thisbulging portion tending to re-achieve its original conical shapetogether with the tension in the arcuate edges of the bridging membersthat provides the tension force in the clamping jaws.

The entire clamp is of integral construction and made entirely of thesame material which, in a preferred embodiment is a tough, resilientplastic, such as nylon, polypropylene, or rigid polyethylene; or it maybe made of metal. In either case, the construction is greatly simplifiedover prior constructions. Further, due to the conical shape and hollowinterior, individual of the devices may be nested with adjacent membersfor convenience of shipping or storage.

An alternative embodiment of the invention is shown in FIGS. 7-8 inwhich reference characters identifying elements similar to thosepreviously shown are the same with an added prime notation. In theembodiment illustrated here, there is provided additional bulk materialat the tip 12', and at the edges of the handle members 23' and 24', theadditional bulk there being represented respectively by referencenumerals 30 and 31. Further, each of the levers 10 and 11 is providedwith an interior rib, 33 and 34 extending fully its longitudinal lengthfor adding structural strength.

In addition, there are rectilinear serrations 36 rather than the curvedserrations of the previous embodiment; and the serrations 36 do notextend the full length of the jaws, the remainder of the jaws beingreduced to define an extended opening.

It will be further obvious that for certain applications of theinventive clamp, serrations need not be used at all, and the jaws can beat; further, the opening of the jaws may be as narrow as desired forparticular application, for example as paper clips.

Because the clamp is hollow in its longitudinal dimension, it may beused as a gripping device capable of exerting a force on `a member ormembers extending axially of it. That is to say, a rod or pencilextending axially of the conical shape can be securely held by theopposing tip members 12a and 12b (FIG. 3). The tips may also be designedto hold two flat strips or straps together in this manner. Likewise, theclamps may be used to mark position on vertically-extending rods withoutprotruding laterally therefrom.

Having thus described in detail a preferred and an alternativeembodiment of the inventive clamp; it will be obvious that certainstructural modifications may be made rwithout departing from theinventive principle.

We claim:

1. A clamp comprising: first and second elongated levers tapering froman enlarged rear portion to a reduced forward end; rst and secondresilient bridging members, each extending in the direction ofelongation of said levers and integrally interconnecting said levers atintermediate locations and forming continuing portions of the sides ofsaid levers, the portions of said levers extending rearward of saidbridging members providing handles and the portions of said leversextending forward of said bridging members providing opposing jaws, saidjaws separating when said handles are pressed together thereby creatinga transverse tension force in the forward section of said bridgingmembers and a transverse compression force in the rearward section ofsaid bridging members whereby said jaws will tend to assume theiroriginal position when said handles are relaxed.

2.` The structure of claim 1 wherein said clamp is entirely made of atough, resilient plastic material and generally defines a frusto-conicalshape vwith said first and second bridging members conforming to saidshape; the forward edge of each of said bridging members define aconcave arcuate shape opening toward the forward end of said device, therearward portion of each of said bridging members defining an expandedtransverse dimension when said handles are pressed together.

3. The device of claim 2 wherein said jaws are serrated substantiallythroughout the disconnected portions of said jaws.

4. The structure of claim 2 further comprising material formingadditional bulk on the peripheries of said handles and the front portionof said tip, and further comprising a rib integral with each leverextending substantially its entire longitudinal length for providingadditional strength.

5. The structure of claim 2 characterized by the fact that said clampsmay be nested, one within another, for reducing volume during shipmentand storage.

6. The device of claim 1 wherein said clamp is entirely made of aresilient material and generally defines a frusto-conical shape.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,360,164 10/1944 Santora 24--1382,494,613 1/1950 Gordos et al. 24-137.5 XR 2,885,758 5/1959 Russ et al.

FOREIGN PATENTS 543,238 5/1956 Italy. 1,091,832 11/1954 France.

412,700 11/ 1966 Switzerland.

DONALD A. GRIFFIN, Primary Examiner.

